Two of the best players in the Quebec Midget AAA Hockey League this season also happen to be two of its best student-athletes.

Lac St-Louis Lions centre Justin Hryckowian was top scorer in the league while goalie Devon Levi was a brick wall at the other end of the ice.

But the local duo are compiling accolades off the ice, as well.

Levi and Hryckowian were among 20 midget hockey players who were each awarded student-athlete bursaries of $1,500 from the Montreal Canadiens last week at the Bell Centre.

The recipients were selected for their hockey and academic achievements, as well as community involvement.

“As a sports organization, we are honoured and pleased to be able to contribute to the development of these young and talented players,” said Geoff Molson, owner and president of the Canadiens.

Levi, a 16-year-old Dollard-des-Ormeaux resident, said he felt privileged to be selected for a Habs’ bursary.

“It was a great experience. It gets you motived to want to be there (at the Bell Centre) when you get older,” he said. “It was also an honour to be able to represent such a great organization, the Lions. “

Levi has also represented West Island College with the same aplomb as he does while netminding for the Lions. He led the league with a .927 save percentage while posting a 97 average in his Grade 10 classes. He’s won a slew of academic awards at WIC, including Highest Academic Achievement Award for three consecutive years.

Levi said developing time-management skills enabled him to excel both on and off the ice.

“It’s very challenging, but as a student-athlete who’s been doing this for a few years, I’ve really been able to perfect my time management,” he said.

“At school, I’m 100 per cent concentrated on my studies. And right after school, it’s hockey. When I’m at the arena, I’m 100 per cent focused on hockey and improving every time I hit the ice. After hockey, I go home and finish all my homework, with no procrastination. And I repeat that daily.”

With equally impressive school marks and goalie stats, Levi’s future looks bright whatever his chosen career path. He still has another year of midget eligibility left. If he returns to the Lions for a third season, he could graduate from WIC next year before embarking on his dream of someday playing college hockey in the United States.

“Playing another year of midget AAA with Lions is an option,” he said. “But my dream since I was a kid is to go to the NCAA, to play in the States.”

As Lions head coach Jon Goyens pointed out, Levi will attract plenty of attention from U.S. schools for his academics alone.

“In Devon’s case, he’s written his own ticket because Ivy League schools, as most people know, don’t offer full scholarships (just financial aid). But what Ivy League schools do have are academic scholarships. And Devon, at the end of the day, has written his own ticket academically.”

Goyens also lavished praise on “Ritszy” Hryckowian, the 17-year-old Île-Bizard resident who captured the league scoring title with 34-41-75 point totals in his second campaign with the Lions.

The savvy Hryckowian centred the top line in Quebec midget hockey this season, flanked by wingers Brandon Frattaroli and Christopher Duchesne. Frattaroli finished second in league scoring with 29-35-64 totals while Duchesne was tied for ninth at 16-37-53.

Hryckowian and Frattaroli also served as co-captains of the Lions, who are now playing in the Dodge Cup.

Hryckowian, who stands 5-feet-7 and weighs 166 pounds, proved size is not everything.

“Ritszy is nifty, he is shifty, he is thinking two or three steps ahead,” Goyens said. “In some situations he’ll suck you in, and you think you got him covered and he’ll use his skate to kick the puck to a guy, but that was planned. What’s going on between his ears is maybe faster than his feet, but the reality is he has tonnes of room to develop.

“He’s way ahead of the curve on peripheral awareness, how he conceptualizes the games, the creativity, and, last but not least, what people don’t give him enough credit for, is his shot. He finished the year shooting at a 25 or 27 per cent rate. Those are phenomenal numbers for a guy who’s supposed to be a playmaker.”

Goyens also lauded Levi and Hryckowian, who attends Kuper Academy, for their academic success.

“It’s not a magic recipe but we all know that time-management becomes such a huge factor for these kids who have more distractions (from social media) than we grew up with,” the coach said.

“It’s a major factor in these kids being able to perform at multiple things, especially at elite level hockey and academics. I’ll give them both credit.”

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